Carmiña Londoño

Carmiña Londoño is the former Deputy Division Director of the Electrical Communications and Cybersystems Division at the National Science Foundation. She previously spent 13 years at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, where she led the Global Standards and Information Group. Londoño spent two terms on the Board of Directors of SPIE, and the SPIE's Director's Award in 2019.

Early life and education Londoño was born in Colombia. She moved to the United States at the age of 13, and grew up in Lowell, Massachusetts. Her Master's dissertation considered techniques to measure the radius of curvature of off-axis parabolas. She co-founded the SPIE's Women in Optics Committee, and was featured in their 2005 Women in Optics planner. In 2019 she was awarded the SPIE Directors' Award for her outstanding commitment to the society. In 2017, the University of Massachusetts Lowell awarded her the Physics Alumnus of the Year Award.

Carmiña is passionate about improving access to optics and physics careers to children and young professionals. She volunteered through an international volunteer organization called Outreach360, where she visited the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua to conduct optics and science camps. These programs are intended to enhance the education of underserved children in Latin America. She is presently working closely with Drs. Angeles Camacho and Natalia Cañas Estrada on the Iluminando el Futuro STEM initiative supported by the IEEE Photonics Society to train and support a cadre of STEM ambassadors throughout Latin America.

Personal life Carmiña Londoño is married to Joseph Kopanski, Group Leader of the Nanoscale Imaging Group at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. She has one daughter, Lillian Lahti.